Yesterday, I heard the Portland, Oregon-based band call The Retrofits for the second time. They played most of the tunes from their debut album Away from Hear. I liked their great sound, which combines the instrumentation of a jazz ensemble with the catchy melodies and arrangements of a mainstream rock band, so much that I bought their CD.
When you listen to The Retrofits on the band's MySpace page, I bet you'll agree that they deserve success. However, with thousands of bands launching albums every year, it is increasingly difficult for a new band, even a very talented one like The Retrofits, to make it big. Standard promotion techniques such as free tracks available on MySpace, playing at local festivals and venues, and touring small clubs around the country are just not sufficient to create buzz because so many other bands are doing the same thing.
The Retrofits need to find innovative ways to get in front of people who don't know them. On the The Retrofits' website, they are smart to collect people's names and emails. And, they even ask whether folks would be willing to promote the band as "RetroFriends." If you click yes, you see a page that say "RetroFriends are fans and friends of ours that help us out with everything that goes along with promoting the band. You can be involved as much or as little as you would like. In return, you can get fun stuff."
The RetroFriends should be asked to do some important things for the band such as spreading the band's online buzz. On Amazon, there is only one customer review of the album. On CD BABY, there are no reviews. On Apple iTunes, there are five reviews but none since March 2, 2007. The band should appeal to their fans to review them on influential websites where the CD is available for sale. Also, running a check on Technorati, I saw only a couple of blog posts about the bands. The RetroFriends need to get out their and start sharing their passion for the band on popular music and cultural blogs.
Also, the band should send out an email to all their contacts with an MP3 attachment of the most popular track on the album. The message that should accompany the track should be simple such as "Hey, I hope you're having a great summer! Thanks for supporting our band over the years. We're having a blast playing songs from our debut ablum Away from Here. In case you haven't picked up a copy of the CD, you can do so at iTunes, Amazon, or CD BABY or from Music Millenium stores in Portland. We're also attaching a free track from the album with this email. If you like it, please forward it to your friends. Thanks and we hope to see you at one of our shows soon. You can check out our touring schedule and more free songs at our MySpace page."
Comments